Past Proceeds Destiny
by R. E. Lyngard
Summary: Too many coincidences point to Third Earth playing a much larger role in the ThunderCat’s past and perhaps their future. A call by a being known only as the Oracle holds the answers for the Thundercats, but will Mumm-Ra and the Lunataks get there first?
1. Prologue Distractions

_A/N: This prologue takes place before my one-shot, __Litha__. Chapter one will follow the events in __Litha.__ While it isn't necessary to read the one-shot, it might make the next chapter flow a bit easier just as reading the prologue might give some small hint to the characters actions in the one-shot – inter-related but independent._

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**Past Proceeds Destiny**

_**Prologue: Distractions**_

As if it would suddenly cause the chaos to make sense, I stared harder at the mass of twisted wires snarled in and out of different ports of the circuit board underneath the console in front of me. It wouldn't matter if I were standing on my head; everything looked the same. What had Panthro been thinking when he designed this?

I grabbed the technical manual next to me and looked over the diagram trying to decipher what went with what on a schematic that looked nothing like the Feliner II's electrical system. A snarl of frustration crossed my lips, and with force, I threw the instruction text out of the opened cockpit. Predictably, the parched, sandy ground released yet another cloud of dust. The fine particles mixed with those already in the air and stifled any chance of relief from the subtle breeze raised by my impulsive and juvenile temper tantrum.

As with every move I had made so far, my mane fell into my eyes. The cloying sweat on my brow made it even worse. Impatiently, I swiped at the sticking hair. It was a good thing I didn't have Snarf's pruning clippers handy; I was seriously considering shaving all of it off, all the way to the roots. The image of myself as maneless as Panthro did not lighten my mood any; he was mostly responsible for this mess, and I wasn't thinking about the wires this time.

The panther had yet to come to terms with what had happened with Wily Kit or Kitara as she now wished to be referred. I had hoped that time and effort made by both parties would soften the tension, but time had only exacerbated the situation leaving it to fester in silence and creating an ndovu in the room phenomenon.

Not that I remembered ever seeing the large, herbivore bush animals back on Thundera, but the effect was the same – too big to miss especially in a room the size of Cat's Lair's control room or even worse the council chamber.

_As if not paying attention to the problem or refusing to address it would make it go away,_ I fumed silently. They could all look to me as an example of what happened when you pretended that there was nothing wrong. I had been a time bomb, and when I had finally gone off, I had almost taken the rest of the ThunderCats with me.

Well, there would be no running away from it when we completed the rites for Kefiera. Although I had made my promise to the Thunderian lioness's spirit almost three months ago, we had only just recently been able to recover her remains. We had been busy not just rebuilding the machines that Kefiera had incapacitated with her storm-generated electromagnetic fields but also with a not so new threat, Mumm-Ra.

The mummy had finally proven that he was still among the living – so to speak, since I was pretty sure he was still more dead than not. He had been severely weakened by the Star of Thundera, but rather than licking his wounds in his Black Pyramid sarcophagus, he had chosen to revive another menace to Third Earth. He had convinced the Mutants to release beings, the Lunataks of Plundarr, whom he had trapped, encased in molten lava, long ago near the Firerock Mountains in an area of the Forbidden Territories known as Darkside. Since their reappearance, stepped-up mutant encounters, and Mumm-Ra's ability to now withstand the horrors of his own reflection, we had had little to no time to handle anything other than the constant attacks upon our allies and us.

Bengali's musings about the strange coincidences of so many Thunderians and Plundarrans appearing on Third Earth suddenly echoed in my head. Was he was right; was there some deeper connection? We ended up on Third Earth from damage inflicted on our flagship; the mutants had followed, but he, Pumyra, and Lynx-O had arrived on a Robear Berbil ship, which had also crash landed. Coincidence, perhaps, but what about the Lunataks? They had come to Third Earth long before Thundera was in trouble. And what about Kefiera and her brother or Grune? Things did seem too interrelated to be happenstance. Of course, none of that mattered right now since we were stranded on this unknown, godsforsaken world!

The new Feliner, dubbed Feliner II, had been retrofitted with a new hyperdrive system, which allowed for deep space travel in a matter of days rather than weeks or months. Lion-O and I were on our way back from a maiden voyage taking us out well past the furthest planet of this solar system, but something had gone wrong. We both had seen the flash of light and felt the ship shudder before we had lost all electrical power as well as navigation. Suddenly, our simple test run had resulted in an emergency landing in a system that looked nothing like the one to which we had been returning. We had also ended up too close to a planet, and with no controls to fix the degrading orbit, we had been forced down onto this world.

It was a testament to my skills as a pilot that our manual landing had kept the ship intact. Although I had needed the lion's extra strength to pull the nose up during the very hot descent, I had set us down relatively smoothly on an expanse of dust-choked ground.

Well, there was no other terrain around us, so I couldn't take credit for the flatness of the area.

At least, we had found a planet – more like planetoid with the size of this place – although, in retrospect, it was probably the same size as Third Earth. The gravity seemed different though. Things felt heavier here, but I couldn't be sure if that was from my lungs working overtime or a true difference in the planet's gravitational field.

Although composed of a higher ratio of nitrogen to oxygen, the atmosphere was breathable and capable of sustaining us enough so that we wouldn't have to use the bulky containment suits. However, the difference in the air quality was definitely noticeable. If I did too much or moved too quickly, I felt like I had stayed too long in Panthro's hangar bay with all the vehicles running and the hangar door closed.

I shook myself from my thoughts. They would not help me in the repairs. I needed to get the navigation computer back online so we at least had some idea of where we were. I rechecked the wiring, feeling for breaks, searching for damage, and making sure that all of the connections were intact. Nothing looked wrong, and the voltmeter showed that the battery still carried current. Still nothing happened no matter what I tweaked or what I tried.

"Bah! This is impossible!" My hands slammed against the opened partition. Finding no satisfaction in the tingling of my fingers, I turned away from the machine. I was done. Lion-O would have to take a go at it if we ever had a hope of reaching home again.

Sighing, I pulled my hair off of my sweaty neck. "Where in the cosmos is he anyway?"

Silence was my only answer. I hadn't expected a verbal reply, so I looked up at the flat horizon. There was little relief in the geography and even less in color. Brown swirling dust carried on a hot breeze as far as the eye could see. A layer of brown even muted what might have been a bluish sky peeking through darker layers of what looked like more dust clouds. Even the foliage, assuming that was what the shadows in the distance poking from the ground were, was a shade of brown, coated by the grime that seemed to be my constant companion.

"How long does it take to reconnoiter a perimeter anyway?" My hands settled against my hips in annoyance, and I again searched the area for anything that wasn't brown, sorrel, or umber.

Too frustrated to continue working on the maimed computer system and afraid that doing so would cause more damage, I finally decided to set off in the direction the lion had headed almost two hours ago. Securing the cockpit, I jumped down onto the dry earth. With each step I took, I could feel the heat pressing against me, helping the dirt that scoured the air to further imbed itself into my fur.

My irritation at my circumstances chafed me more so than the debris taking permanent residence in my skin. No matter where I looked, I could find no telltale flame of red or even a hint of turquoise from Lion-O's uniform. It was as if he had vanished. The subtle anger that had been simmering from the lion's long absence congealed into worry.

In my preoccupation looking for my companion, I missed a step and fell ungracefully to the dry earth. Luckily, I suffered no injury other than a blow to my ego. Grateful that no one was around to have seen my misstep, I attempted to stand. There was no rumbling to indicate an earthslide or a quake, but the ground beneath me suddenly lost all of its cohesion and began pulling me bodily downward. Like the water going down a drain, I began to spin within the imploding cavity.

I was trapped in what must be some kind of sinkhole. There was nothing below me to slow my descent nor was there anything to grab onto to pull me out of the vortex. Desperately, I clawed at the tumbling dirt but found no purchase. As the murky daylight above me disappeared, I wondered if drowning in sand was the same thing as drowning in water.

In claustrophobic darkness, I felt the dust creep into my lungs and tried to cough out the substance. My efforts only succeeded in drawing more of the cascading earth inward. I continued to plummet, my body bouncing through the debris field. At least I think I was moving downward; I was so turned around by now that I didn't know which way was up.

I finally came to a stop, hard. "Kutar baicha!" I hissed when I found enough of my voice in my winded and abused lungs to make a sound. "So much for cats always landing on their feet," I growled to myself.

Prostrate and unmoving, I lay on the ground for a moment. I wasn't quite willing to tempt fate and possibly start another precarious descent. The journey to this place, wherever that was, had been worse than trying to teach Wily Kat to drive.

Testing my limbs to search for injuries, I slowly moved each leg and then each arm. There were subtle aches, but nothing appeared to be broken. I was sure, with time, I would be quite the sight riddled from head to toe with multicolored bruises. That was, of course, assuming they could be seen under the fine coat of dirt completely covering me. I could even taste it, gritty like wet sand.

I coughed trying to rid my lungs of the collected dust and spit out dark colored sputum. Lovely. My chest ached with the effort, and I hoped that it was only an indication of inhaling too many solid particles and not because I had bruised a few of my ribs in my topsy-turvy fall and abrupt landing. Knowing that lying in a disheveled heap would do me no good, I pushed myself to my knees. My chest again protested. I guess I should be grateful that I had survived as well as I had.

My new position gave me a different vantage of where I had landed, and I had to blink against the brightness above me. Even though it wasn't possible, since I was technically underground, there was a bright blue sky and a sun – or something that acted like one. The angle at which the rays hit would have indicated mid-afternoon had I still been Third Earth bound.

I looked down trying to adjust to the intense light. Beneath me spread a beach of pure, white sand. It sparkled brilliantly, but it was oddly warm, instead of an expected blistering hot, against my knees and palms.

The sudden variations in color saturated my eyes, which had grown accustomed to the drab browns from the world above. A few meters on the beach beyond where I knelt was a shimmering turquoise cloth. It contrasted vividly with the stark sand. However, it was not attached to the Thunderian for whom I was looking.

Before my mind could jump to dire conclusions, the sound of splashing drew my attention to the body of water stretching out past the beach and to the horizon. I was momentarily captivated by how water and sky seemed to meld together flawlessly. The water was a striking blue-green and smooth as glass except for the waves made by a certain Leo.

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I stretched my right arm sweeping it over my head and then scooping it sharply down the full length of my torso. The cool resistance of the water against my body as I glided forward fluidly was refreshing. I felt the strain and stiffness in my body drift away and along with them half of the planet that I had brought along with me on my trip to this strange oasis.

I had no idea how long I had been here, but every attempt I had made to return to the surface so far had been met with failure and a lot more dirt to cover the newly won scrapes and bruises I had received for my efforts. By the time I had decided that maybe there was another way back, other than the tumbling route that had brought me here, I had been covered from head to boot in grime. The debris had matted my mane and drifted into my nose and mouth. I was pretty sure it had even managed to find its way inside my ears too.

The serene blue-green water had beckoned to me, promising relief from the heat and a way to easily clean up. As soon as I had submerged in the lukewarm sea, I had felt at peace, revived. I had only planned to get in and then get out, but the water had felt so good that I had kept reneging on the promise I had made to myself to return to the beach. Just one more lap had become a dozen, and after that, I had simply stopped counting or making the promise.

From the cloudless blue sky, a sudden dirt devil formed close to where I had been dropped. As quickly as it had appeared, it vanished leaving a heap of dirt on the sandy shore. I had already witnessed this phenomenon occur several times now. In fact, trying to go up through the vortex had been my first attempt to return to the surface. Of course, all it had landed me was more dirt to add to the collection I had brought with me.

Oddly, after the earth from above landed here, it morphed into sand and spread out as if it had always been part of the beach. This time, however, as I watched the brown transform into a white dune and begin to disperse, something solid was left behind. The object moved, but it wasn't until the figure stood up that I realized that the form was female, Thunderian female.

"Ho, Cheetara!" I called, raising my hand out of the water in a half-wave. Wet droplets scattered from my fingertips creating miniature-rippling circles around me. Although the water I was swimming in looked like an ocean, there were no natural waves. Everything was still, resembling a placid lake instead.

Her arms crossing over her chest, Cheetara focused on me. "Is this what you've been doing the whole time I've been trying to fix the Feliner?"

Uh oh. I suddenly wondered how long I had been gone. It hadn't seemed like much time had passed. Making sure to put a chastened look on my face, one that usually worked on Snarf, I swam little closer to shore. She was so covered in grime I could barely see the butterfly markings on her face.

"Well, I fell through some sinkhole and wound up here. I had no way to reach you, and the water looked so inviting. Besides, I was hot and dirty." Hot and dirty! Had those words just left my mouth?

Even though Cheetara was far away from me, a fact for which I was suddenly grateful, I could see her amber eyes narrow on her dirt-streaked face. She inclined her head to the shoreline a few meters from where she had landed. In a fairly neat pile lay my tunic, claw shield, and the Sword of Omens. "And, it didn't occur to you to use the sword?"

"Look, I know you're angry."

"Angry? Angry! Oh, I am more than angry. You left me to deal with the mechanical nightmare of the Feliner alone." She changed the pitch of her voice as she mimicked the last words I had said before going off to explore. "'I just want to reconnoiter the area, Cheetara; I'll be right back.' It's been over two hours!" With each word, she stepped closer to the shore so that her feet almost touched the water.

"Has it been that long?" I stopped speaking as I watched Cheetara throw her hands up in the air. What in Thundera had gotten into me? Was I trying to start a fight?

"Come join me." I invited, mentally changing tactics. The water had soothed me perhaps it would her as well.

Cheetara took a breath and held it for a moment before blowing it out through her clenched teeth. "We're trapped on an unknown planet, stranded below while our vehicle above is incapacitated – unable to even send an emergency distress beacon, and you want me to take a dip in the pool?"

"Well, when you put it like that…"

"How else should I put it?" It was obvious she was trying to keep herself in check and not fly off into a rage, but her tone of voice was laced with so much sweetness to counteract her anger that it made my teeth hurt.

Frustrated with my inability to defend myself, I smacked my arm hard against the surface of the water and then watched in horror as the large wave that I had created crashed over the cheetah. Where dirt had once marred her lovely features, now muddy tracks covered her from head to toe. Her bright orange colored clothing and vibrant yellow mane with black spots contrasted starkly with the muted dark streaks of mud and splotches of the lighter dusty browns that had not been doused in my splash.

"Cheetara, I'm so sorry," I gasped as I watched the shock on her face darken to unreadable emotions. I began to back away from her. At first, I moved slowly, but after she threw her weapon cuff on top of my belongings and then knelt down into a crouch, I began to put in much greater effort. Using every muscle in both my arms, I threw myself into a desperate backstroke, swimming as if my life depended upon it, and given what I had just witnessed on Cheetara's face, it very well might.

Even though I was keeping my eyes on the lithe female in an attempt to save my own skin, I still couldn't help but marvel at the effortless grace she exhibited as she launched herself into the air. Her lean muscles contracted and then sprang forth in full extension as she cleanly split the water in a seamless dive that barely broke the still surface.

I was definitely in trouble. While Cheetara's speed was unmatched on land, she was also incomprehensibly fast in water. I may have beaten her in the trial of speed, but I had had time and space on my side. In my current circumstances, I had no hope of outdistancing her. Even as I continued to paddle backwards, I braced for an impact that didn't come.

Cautiously, I eased up, my momentum slowing until I came to almost a complete stop. The water was crystal clear, but I could make out the sandy floor. I was deep, too deep to reach the bottom. I began treading water and looked back to where I had last seen the cheetah. Nothing – no shadow underneath nor current above – gave any indication of where she had gone.

"Cheetara?" I called out. Dread clamped icily across my gut when the cheetah didn't break the surface. Fear for my safety from an angry she-cat was quickly replaced by worry that something had happened to her. In this place, we both had been witnesses to as well as participants in traveling to other "worlds," for lack of a better term. Was it possible that the water harbored a wormhole to another place on this odd planet?

Ten sharp spikes knifed into my shoulders. I barely had a chance to catch half a breath before I my whole body was plunged under the water. Attempting to dislodge whatever was on my back, I twisted. Unsuccessful in breaking off the attack, I changed tactics and clamped my hands around whatever was assaulting me, so it had to come below the surface with me.

We seemed to be in an endless fall until my feet finally hit the sandy bottom. Wasting no time and in desperate need of oxygen, I bent my knees and pushed hard. Like a blaster rifle shot, we flew to the surface. I emerged first still carrying my assailant on my back. Using my mass and momentum to my advantage, I flipped us, turning the tables.

Two blows landed solidly against my diaphragm. The counterstrike caused me to choke on my own breath as the air entering my starved lungs was simultaneously expelled from them. My grip slipped and without hesitation, my opponent took advantage of my weakened state and escaped. Not sure if I would have another chance, I decided that a strategic retreat to shallower waters was in order and threw myself into another powerful backward glide.

Laughter stopped me mid-stroke. "Well what do you know," Cheetara spoke between giggles, "you're right; a dip in the pool is exactly what I needed – refreshing and entertaining."

I stared at the spot where Cheetara was. "That wasn't funny," I growled irritated at how winded I still felt and worse sounded. At least I had come to shallower waters and could now touch albeit on the tips of my toes. "You scared me half to death."

Cheetara shrugged her shoulders slightly and ran her hands through her spotted mane. "Now you know how it feels." With a couple of powerful strokes, she swam her way to my side.

I took secret pleasure in noticing she still had to tread water. "Point taken."

"Did you really try to get back to the surface, or were you just goofing off the whole time?"

"You know, the last time I shirked my duty was right after we crash landed on Third Earth, and I was still a boy coming to terms with my new body. I think I have more than made up for that shortcoming." After everything that had happened in the past few months or before when she had remembered about the twins, I couldn't believe that she thought so little of me now.

"You've been pushed pretty hard, Lion-O, especially with Mumm-Ra and the Lunataks, I wouldn't blame you for seeking a little R&R, but I am glad to hear that I was mistaken."

I wasn't in the least bit appeased by her words. I was – hurt. I had come to think of the cheetah differently. We had learned so much about each other with each other that I thought we had grown beyond the mental age gap, but apparently, that had also been all in my head.

"What's with you?" A playful splash caught the side of my cheek and shoulder, but I was no longer in the mood and turned to swim back to shore – back to finding a way to the surface and home to Third Earth.

"Lion-O?"

I kept my course.

"Lion-O, come on. Don't be like that." I heard Cheetara following behind me but decided not to give in and look at her. The sooner I got dried off, the sooner I could find us a way home. I had almost reached the beach when I heard an odd sound behind me. I closed my eyes wearily; she just wouldn't give up. I turned around prepared to handle the she-cat, but to my surprise it wasn't Cheetara sneaking up on me. A large tentacle whipped from the water toward my head, I dodged falling down in the process.

"Lion-O!" Cheetara screamed a second warning.

I rolled sideways attempting to evade another feeler from some kind of transparent floating ball. The water I was standing in was waist deep and made my motions seem sluggish and sloppy. Searing pain spread like fire down my right side as another appendage connected with my carotid artery. Half of my upper body went numb, so did both of my hands as I pried the tentacle free of my skin. I fell to my knees as what strength I had, born of adrenaline, vanished, and in morbid fascination, I watched another pair of whip-like arms reach for me.

A primal scream echoed off the shore. I saw a flash of yellow and orange attach itself to the relatively unprotected top of the fleshy body of creature that was attacking me. The arms that had been reaching for me recoiled and twitched in spasmodic jerks. Cheetara, digging her claws into something that resembled a huge Third Earth jellyfish, was the last thing I saw before my knees gave out, and I plunged face first into the water.

I held my breath as best as I could but even that was an effort. The splashing and struggling between the cheetah and the alien pushed me further into deeper water. My chest ached, lungs screaming for air but none to give. I hurt all the way through; it was as if I could feel my spine compressing with the lack of air. My sight dimmed at the corners, but I was paralyzed. I could do nothing but lay in the water. Slowly, the pain began to ease. I saw images flash before my eyes: happier times with my father, with the ThunderCats, with Cheetara. Suddenly, the pain completely disappeared, and all I felt was pleasant numbness as I floated away.

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Soft lips, hot breath, and uncontrollable hacking were the sensations that woke me from my stupor. Wracking coughs accompanied by huge volumes of water spewed from my lips as I was suddenly thrust to my side. Every time I thought I might catch a breath, more water would get in the way, and I would have to force it from my lungs and stomach. I didn't even register the feel of warm arms as they wrapped me from behind in a tight embrace.

"Chee…Chee-ta-ra," I gasped out between coughs and gulps of air. My whole body was shaking although oddly I could only feel portions of it. The warm sand felt good on my side, and I rolled onto my back again. I was exhausted and unable to keep my eyes open.

A sharp blow struck my left shoulder and forced me to open my eyes in surprise. "Don't you ever do that to me again!" Cheetara pushed herself to kneeling and glared down at me, but there was something else behind her eyes.

"Sorry," I muttered feeling my eyelids grow heavy again.

"Lion-O!" A sharp sound of a slap rang near my ear, but I didn't feel the blow.

"Hmm."

"Open your eyes!"

I struggled and managed to comply by cracking one to squint up at the cheetah, who had now positioned herself so that she was straddling my chest. Had I been more aware of what was going on, I might have been embarrassed by our closeness or even worse, aroused – well that wasn't worse but well right now it wasn't something I should be thinking about anyways. I managed to coax my other eye open and stared up into her face.

She must have been out of the water for a while. Her mane was curling as it cascaded over her shoulder, a waterfall of ancient gold set off with black. The tension in her forehead eased slightly as both of my eyes continued to stay open. Her mouth softened from the hard line of worry, and she leaned back slightly. I had the urge to reach out and touch her, but when I tried to move my left arm, I found that I couldn't.

She saw the panic in my eyes. "What is it?" she soothed leaning down and stroking my cheek with both of her hands. _Thank the stars I could feel that_. It kept me from completely losing it.

"My arm. I can't move my arm"

Cheetara placed her hand on mine, but I wouldn't have known it if I hadn't seen her do so. Slowly, she tracked her fingers upward. "Anything?"

I shook my head. I was afraid that my voice might betray how unsettled I truly was.

"It's okay." She reassured me with a smile and again stroked my cheek. I relaxed. Cheetara repeated the same steps with my right hand. When she reached my elbow, I found that I could feel her claws lightly scraping against the grain of my coat.

"I felt that!"

Relief flooded her face, and her tentative smile blossomed into a full-fledged grin. "That thing" – she motioned to the water – "probably injected you with a toxin. When I pulled you from the water, I saw these little barbs all over your neck and arms. I managed to scratch them off though."

She sighed and leaned back. "You might lay off the candy fruit muffins; you weigh a ton."

I laughed. It was a wheezing sound, but it felt good all the same. Cheetara joined in, and we both reclined on the shore enjoying the moment, releasing the tension. "Thanks," I said as our mirth came to a lull.

"Don't mention it. You'd do – have done – the same for me."

That admission sobered me. We hadn't had time to talk about what had happened in the cell when Kefiera had captured us. I felt my face heat with my thoughts. "Cheetara." I didn't have a chance to say anything else.

Fingers threaded through my mane as Cheetara brought her lips to mine. She was tentative, questioning, as she brushed my lower lip with hers. I would have given just about anything to be able to move my hands and grab her around the waist or pull her down and roll so that I was on top of her, but I couldn't. I could do little more than part my lips in invitation.

She tasted so sweet and spicy at the same time. There was the subtle tang of ocean water. Her tongue slid across mine, dueling, giving and taking, a sensuous tango. Fire burned through my loins, hot desire. Slowly, she pulled away, and again I was held captive by my own body unable to keep her from retreat. Burning golden eyes stared into mine.

"Lion-O? Lion-O!" The eyes had changed to a burnt orange. Hands that were too large and too masculine shook my shoulders. I blinked and blinked again to see the gray face of Panthro staring at me.

"Wha? Huh?" I shook my head trying to recapture the beach.

"Thank Jaga! Tygra, he's back."

I peered over the panther's shoulder to see the tiger gently shaking Cheetara from her chair, which was positioned adjacent to mine. In her lap was an odd contraption that looked like a helmeted visor with an array of wires snaking from the back of the device. I looked down at my own lap to find the same thing. A sharp intake of breath redirected my focus back to the cheetah.

"Easy," Tygra murmured as Cheetara jerked away from him. Regret took the place of confusion on her face, and she turned to me. Our eyes met; hers were still like the molten gold I had just seen. A hint of red stained her cheeks, and she quickly lost my gaze.

"What? What happened?" she asked, her breathing hitching with suppressed emotions.

"I was hoping you could tell us," Panthro replied. I caught the strange look that he exchanged with Tygra before he continued. "You both handled the flight simulation perfectly, and then when it was over, you both seemed to be in some kind of trance."

"Did you see anything?" Tygra asked Cheetara, as she pushed her chair away from the console.

The cheetah's eyes skittered to mine before returning to look at Tygra. "No." The answer was more forceful than necessary. "I-I have to go."

"Cheetara," I called out, but she was already out the door before I could say anything more.

Tygra looked at Panthro, and then they both turned to me. "What was that all about?" Tygra wondered, looking at the now empty doorway.

"I have no idea." I answered, but I certainly wondered if she had seen the same things that I had.

TBC

_**----------Notes/Sources/Translations----------**_

Ndovu – elephant, Swahili origin.

Kutar baicha – Bengali origin, translated to English. Used as a Tigris swearing, means son of a b***h.


	2. Chapter One: The Call

**Past Proceeds Destiny**

**Chapter One**__

_**The Call**_

A soft breeze rustled through the leaves and lifted my hair from my shoulders. It was a welcome respite. The rains of the season had come and gone leaving an oppressive heat with their disappearance. However, time marched on, I reminded myself, and it seemed to move more and more quickly with each passing season. In a few more lunar cycles, we would be celebrating the harvest and preparing for the winter months

I laughed silently to myself, taking great care to make no sound. We had just celebrated Litha not less than one lunar cycle, and yet my thoughts had already turned to another celebration, another mark in time. My desperate need for relief from the stifling humidity must be playing games with my mind if I were already dreaming of the first freeze. I'm sure once the first snows reached the Hunting Plains, I would be once again dreaming of the heat that I was currently despising.

Mist swirled peacefully in the glade below. My feet skitter-stepped as I adjusted my weight, and the buck grazing in the clearing lifted his head and snorted. He pawed the ground with his right foreleg, and then immediately stilled. Only his breath, displacing the mist around his muzzle and his ears flicking forward listening, kept him from appearing like a statue.

After several slow minutes, the male deer lowered his head and resumed grazing among the lush vegetation growing at his feet near a small spring. The threat he had perceived had passed. In truth, it hadn't, for we were the threat.

To my left, further out on the sturdy tree branch and in my peripheral field of vision, I saw Willa move. She had her bow out and arrow drawn. Sadness pierced my heart, and I sent a quick prayer to the goddess, thanking her for her blessing and asking forgiveness for our want. This was not our way, not originally. In times past, before the aliens had come, we never would have chased after meat – certainly not so far away nor so early in the season.

My eyes strayed to the beginning nubs spouting on the deer's head. They were just starting to branch, a couple of points on each side. If we could have waited, they would have most likely grown into a crown of at least three times that. The soft velvet covering the antlers sparkled in the dappled morning light, created by the heavy tree canopy, which blocked out all but the strongest rays of the sun. Again, he suddenly stopped grazing and turned in our direction. His ears twitched listening intently to the air chime gently through the leaves.

We were several meters from our target, and the wind was in our favor keeping our scent behind us. Yet, I still held my breath. It would be a shame to loose this chance especially since Willa and I had been tracking this glorious beast since long before the dawn began to light the horizon.

Willa remained motionless, a statue herself. I knew she would not take the shot until she was certain it would be a quick and instant kill. Not like the mutants did. They took sadistic pleasure in playing with their food, wounding it, and tracking for days. Sometimes, they would give up the chase, bored with the hunt, and simply search for the next kill whether they needed the food or not.

Anger coiled in my gut from a recent memory, and my hand drifted to the knife strapped to my thigh. Almost a week ago, I had found a small doe, barely a full season old and not worthy of a meal, clinging to life at the edge of the Forest of Silence. The natural dampening of the thick foliage kept her bleating inaudible; but the silence only made her plight more heartbreaking.

She lay half paralyzed and gasping for air. She had been shot; the shaft from a crossbow was still half buried in her left shoulder. Blood, dark brown and bright red mixed together, dripped from her muzzle as she tried to breathe through fluid pooling in her lung, which had most likely been grazed by the shot. She was mortally wounded and in pain. I had taken pity on the creature and had taken my knife and slit her throat, ending her life and her misery.

Carrying her across my shoulders, I took her carcass home, but instead of feasting on what little meat she had, we burned her in a pyre of thanks to the goddess. Her suffering would have rendered her inedible, and this was the best honor we could give her for her life, which had been cut too short. It seemed the goddess had listened since she had granted us the buck in the clearing below.

The deer slowly lowered his head to the fertile ground and resumed foraging for his breakfast. I watched Willa close her eyes, take a breath, and hold it, but before she could release the arrow, a deep sound – two long, low blasts followed by two equally low but shorter bursts and again to the long – resonated through the forest.

The buck immediately startled, its large black eyes dilating, its head and ears shooting in the direction of the trumpeting. He snorted in panic and reared back on his hooves. With his whole body set for flight, he took to the opposite direction of the announcing horns and us.

Willa released the tension in the bow completely retracting her arrow. The buck had moved so quickly with the interruption that she had not been sure of the shot. She whirled in the direction that the announcing horns had come. Again, we heard the herald in the same succession as before.

"Willa, that is the call of an arriving ship," I said, but I was confused. We were not expecting any of the tribes until next Litha.

"I know, Nayda." Willa quickly slid the arrow back into her quiver case and the bow onto her back. Grabbing the nearest length of a vine, she launched herself in the direction of the signal, and I followed suit. I noted that while she had been startled by the introduction of the conch shell horn, she didn't appear to be completely surprised by it.

"Were you expecting them?" I switched hands to the next length of vine and kicked my feet forward to swing on to the next bank of trees.

"In a manner of speaking," she replied, cryptically. She also continued to swing vine to vine throughout the dense foliage.

I was surprised that we were heading directly toward the shore rather than back to the Treetop Kingdom. Willa apparently wasn't interested in arriving with a full welcoming party. At our pace, it would just be the two of us long before any of the watchers would arrive.

I thought back to the hunting parties planned for today; indeed, Willa and I were the only ones close to the North Rock Mountains. The others were either near the Hunting Plains or gathering berries and herbs in the Forest of the Enchanted Unicorns. It was possible that no one would be even close enough to hear the signaling ship.

I gauged my vault to the next vine and noticed that the trees were beginning to thin. We were coming closer to the base of the mountains. There were only two ways to the shore from here, either the Pass of the Rockmen or skirting along the bank of the River of Despair not far from the Bridge of Light.

I wasn't relishing the likelihood of dodging boulders if we should awaken the rock guardians, but I wasn't too thrilled with the alternative either. This was mating season for the Black Widow Sharks. They often congregated at the mouth of the river where it met the sea, and during this period of time, they were very aggressive. I knew this firsthand as I had once witnessed a shark jump onto the bank and catch a passing unicorn. Then with prey fully contained within its deadly jaws, the creature wiggled itself on its eight legs back into the water.

Willa stopped on the last of the tall trees and waited for me to join her. "The pass of the Rockmen will take us too far out of our way. We'll go along the river bank."

"Willa," I began, but she cut me off.

"I know, the Black Widow Sharks…but we can make it if we're careful."

I wasn't so sure, but I knew that she was right. Time was of the essence. We needed to get to the landing party before they started to make their way to us. Tribes from across the sea, unescorted on our land, and without Queen Willa's blessing could meet danger quickly – not just from the native flora and fauna in our area but also from uninformed Warrior Maidens. As far as anyone knew, this was an invasion force although I doubted that. Willa was not acting as if this visit was a huge surprise.

I tried not to be angry at that. If she knew there was a chance that a ship might be coming, then why hadn't she said anything to me or anyone else for that matter? What could be on the ship that required such secrecy?

Willa led the way to the River of Despair. This close to the North Rock Mountains, there was no bank of which to speak. Instead, the mountains just died into the river. One false step, and it was a plunge into the waters below. I glanced over the edge past the razor sharp rocks that poked out of the rapids and caught sight of several fins swimming against the current

"We go one at a time," Willa said and scoured the area for the best path, best hand and footholds, to use on the sheer face of the cliff that we had to cross to get to the shore.

I knew my objections would fall on deaf ears, so I just nodded my head. "Before you go, give me your bow."

Willa carefully slid her weapon and ammunition from her shoulder and held them out to me. "Hopefully, you won't need it."

"Hopefully," I agreed but still threaded an arrow into the bow. I was by no means the markswoman that my sister was, but I could certainly hit something the size of a shark if it decided that my sister might make a nice bauble for attracting a mate.

By the goddess's grace, Willa made it to the other side without incident. "All right, Nayda," she called, "your turn."

Mimicking the way Willa wore her bow, I slid the weapons around my shoulder and torso. It might be a bit tricky to climb with the additional armament, but I could manage. I tried not to think about the fact that I was on my own completely in my climb. I hadn't thought about who would watch my back if the sharks should spy me. It wasn't like I could throw Willa her weapon, or could I?

I dropped from my preliminary handhold with the new thought. "Willa, I'm going to shoot you a line and tie off the bow and quiver."

I once again removed the bow and chose an arrow with the line already secured to it. I quickly set about sighting and shooting. The arrowhead embedded itself deeply in the ground at Willa's feet. She waved a hand, and I sent the weapon and arrow case plunging down the cliff face where they swayed like a pendulum.

Apparently, the motion also garnered the interest from the denizens below. One right after the other, two sharks leapt into the air. Their jaws snapped angrily at the threat or possible meal. However, the bow and case were too small and too close to the rocks for them to get a piece of either. That fact didn't appear to be a deterrent for them though. Soon, more sharks joined in the hunt as if they could sense prey near. Unfortunately, that prey would be me.

Willa pulled on the line and inch-by-inch moved the bow and case over the craggy surface. By the time she had retrieved it, the sharks had grown disenchanted with the chase and were back to investigating the shores and under the water for more easier meal options.

I found my handholds again and slowly worked my way across the steep surface. I was about midway across when I heard a strange sound below me like water being sucked into a whirlpool. Securing myself to the wall, I glanced down in time to see a large black shark eject itself from the water.

Water droplets scattered like weapon's fire explosions. I was doused from head to toe. My handholds on the sheer rock surface became slick. Even as I dug my fingers and nails into the crevice, I felt my foothold slip. I pressed myself to the rock face still trying to regain the foothold I had lost, but I could not. My right hand gave way, and I swung drunkenly out into the open air.

A crunching sound of jaws too close to my body made me jerk backward. A fine spray of liquid gushed over my already wet body. I recognized the acrid and lethal scent immediately and closed my eyes and mouth tightly. Blindly, I struck the wall with my back. My foothold and handhold could not compensate for the completely different direction I was now facing, and I felt the odd sensation of nothingness as my body freefell from the cliff wall.

Sounds seemed to slow down. Above the roaring of the wind, I heard someone scream. It sounded like my name. I felt something smooth nudge my shoulder and then a sharp report of something sharp penetrating a thick hide. There was another shriek, which could have been mine, but I was desperately trying to keep my mouth closed. If by some miracle, I managed to survive the fall into the waters below, I didn't want to be paralyzed by shark venom. I would try to go down fighting.

I wondered how far I had fallen. I braced for the impact of water and maybe stone if I managed to make it that far without the jaws of something clamping down on my body. Shouldn't I have hit by now?

Suddenly, something coiled around my torso. My freefall downward was now a quick change of direction. I felt the wind leave my lungs in a hard rush. I struggled slightly, not knowing what was happening, but a soothing baritone voice called out. "Easy, Nayda, I've got you."

_Tygra?_ I must be dreaming. I must have already hit the water and was now in a state of complete delusion. Of course, that didn't explain how I could feel the heat of a body pressing against mine or the cold wind blowing across my face.

I again felt like I was falling, but this time, I was securely held against something warm. The drop to the ground was sudden, but not uncomfortable, and the arms that held me did not release me but held on to me as the rest of my body was set gently down on what felt like terra firma.

"Don't move, Nayda." That was Willa's voice, laced in an icy calm that I knew meant that I had scared her as much as I had scared myself.

"Are you hurt?" The same rich baritone that had saved me asked.

I shook my head slightly, but kept my mouth and eyes tightly closed. I knew that I had received a face full of venom. There was a rough scraping of something like an arrow shaft across my face. I tried not to flinch. Leave it to Willa to collect the venom on my body. It would make a potent toxin to be used on our arrows.

The scraping was then replaced with a cloth, wet and cold. The touch was different as well. Gentle, like a mother cleaning a child, although I was no child. I suddenly felt self-conscious and grabbed the hand and the cloth to clean my own face.

Very slowly, I cracked my eyes opened as I scrubbed at my face. I had not been dreaming at all. There in vivid orange and black with a creamy white to add to the contrast stood Tygra. He wore an expression on his face that showed that he was still deeply concerned. I was suddenly grateful for the fact that my face had been rubbed almost raw. It would hide the heat of embarrassment that I could already feel flooding my cheeks.

"Thanks," I offered. The smile that split the tiger's face was so resplendent with relief that I had to look away. I was acting like a silly child, I warned myself. I knew there were no more knights in shining armor to come to my rescue like the stories of old, and besides that fact, I was never one to play the damsel in distress.

At the edge of the cliff, I caught sight of a dark grey panther looking down; Willa was at his side. I walked to where the pair stood, ignoring the warning I barely heard from the tiger, "I wouldn't…"

I should have listened. I felt my stomach clench and then churn as I stared into the frothing waters below. In the midst of a swarm of sharks lay an unmoving black body, larger than the sharks swimming around. There was a broken shaft of an arrow still poking through its head. Blood pooled around the creature as one after the other, jaws of steel tore into the dead flesh. The gnashing of teeth and territorial warnings being hissed could be heard even as high us as we were.

I shuddered as I watched the sharks opportunistically feeding on their dead kin, some taking pieces away with them and others swallowing the bites whole. Had it only been Willa and myself, I probably would have thrown up, but I would not show that kind of weakness in front of the two male ThunderCats.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, pleased that my voice didn't shake like my insides seemed to be.

"We were in the North Rock Mountains investigating a Thundrillium deposit when we heard the horns and decided to investigate. It was just dumb luck that we arrived and saw the Black Widow Shark attempt to take you down for a morning snack."

I suppressed the images that poured into my brain at my recent almost tumble into the River of Despair by way of deadly jaws. I saw Tygra give Panthro a glare, but pretended not to be fazed by the words or the tiger's apparent irritation at the panther's description of what had happened.

Willa glanced back at the river for a moment apparently thinking the same thing that I had been. That had been too close. "Well, you might as well come along, ThunderCats. This call has more to do about you than it does us."

My sister did not offer any more information, as the four of us quickly made our way past the mouth of the River of Despair and around the base of the mountain. As the shore came into view, I could just make out the shape of a large ship on the distant horizon. There were five masts, but the sails were not inflated. They were situated not to catch the wind while the vessel was anchored out at sea. In the fluttering breeze, I could make out the labyrinthine symbol on a flag affixed to the stern. It was a tribe ship from Rodos, the same island nation that had joined us this past Litha.

As we continued on, I saw a landing party boat had been pulled onto the sand. Stationed next to the rowboat were three men. Willa pulled out her hunting horn and blew the customary greeting. The men turned to us and began to walk our direction. In moments, we were facing each other.

Knowing that there were procedures of which they were not privy to nor accustomed with, Tygra and Panthro hung back. However, I took solace in knowing if there were any provocations, they would not hesitate to act. I took a step forward but kept a respectful distance situating myself at Willa's elbow.

"Kaleb." Willa greeted and took another step forward to meet the leader of the males.

"My lady." Kaleb knelt on one knee in front of the warrior queen.

I released my breath not realizing that I had been holding it. Even though I knew that the meeting had not come as a shock to my sister, I still had been plagued with a feeling, a premonition that all was not as it seemed. Seeing Kaleb offering Willa such respect mollified me.

I glanced at the other two males who had accompanied their leader. I was surprised that I recognized the second in command, who held his position just like I was holding mine. He was the male who had been staring at me all through the Litha celebration. That fission of foreboding crept back up my spine. He must have recognized me as well; his eyes never strayed from mine.

I felt a heat on my shoulder and realized that I was not the only one who had observed the apparent fixation on me. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Tygra had taken a small step so that he was now standing directly behind me. Usually, I would be angry at such a possessive stance, but right now, I was oddly comforted by it.

"Do you have word?" Willa asked as Kaleb got up to stand in front of her.

The human male leader glanced to me and then to the two ThunderCats behind me. I saw him raise his eyebrow in silent question to Willa. She simply nodded for him to continue.

"The Oracle bids the aliens to come to the islands. She says she must speak with the lion directly. That there is a hidden truth that has brought him here, a destiny that comes again."

"What are you talking about?" Panthro asked obviously not liking the veiled reference to Lion-O.

"Peace, Panthro," Willa held up her hand. "Lord Lion-O is aware of this mission, he was the one who instigated it."

I watched the panther and tiger exchange glances. They obviously were as in the dark about what was going on as I was. Somehow, that didn't make me feel any better.

"Willa, perhaps, we should all return to Cat's Lair and let Lion-O speak directly to this Oracle's messenger."

"Is that your wish?" Willa asked Kaleb.

"I will do as you wish, Queen Willa. I only ask that you and your sister grant us safe passage through this land and remain with us while we talk with the aliens."

A shiver ran down my back at Kaleb's reference to the felines as aliens. It wasn't the word, but the way in which he had said it. It also accompanied a strange look from the male who seemed to be smitten with me.

Panthro and Tygra again shared a look. It seemed that there was more said without words than with them at this meeting. Tygra stepped forward. "The Thundertank is on the other side of the mountains. There is enough room for all of us, and it will get us back to Cat's Lair by nightfall."

Willa nodded her head. With Tygra and Panthro in the lead, we began the arduous ascent over the mountains to the ThunderCat vehicle.

_TBC_


End file.
